Voting-machine.



No. 772,721. PATENTED OCT. 18, 1904 W. LANGRILL.

VOTING MACHINE.

A LIGATION l-"ILED 213.24, 1903. N0 MODEL.

// ATTORNEY WITNESSES party without depressing all of the keys for Patented October 18, 1904.

PATENT -OFFICE.

WILLIAM LANGRILL, OF BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent-No. 772,721, dated October 18, 1904. Application filed February 24, 1903. Serial No. 144,837. (No model.)

To all whom zit may concern.-

Be it known that L'WILLIAM LANGRILL, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements" in Voting- Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is a voting-machine, and pertains to that. class of machines in which votes are registered by means of depressible keys, and more particularly to the class of machines illustrated by my Patent No. 706,326. dated August 5, 1902, for voting-machines.

The objects of the inventionare to permit the voting for the whole party-ticket of any the individual candidates; to render impossible the voting for individual candidates after the whole ticket of any party has been voted by the separate means provided; also to render impossible the voting of any whole partyticket after uncovering the keys of the individual candidates; to make it impossible to vote for more than one whole party-ticket or for two individual candidates for the same ofiice.

A further object is to simplify and reduce to the minimum number the parts required to attain the above objects.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel is a front View of a Voting-board. Fig. 2 is a back view of the locking arrangement. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through two of the locking-bars before a vote has been registered. Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of the same after the vote has been registered. Fig. 5 is a front view of one and a part of another of thelocking-bars. Fig. 6 is a back View of the locking-bars for the whole-partyticket keys. Fig. 7 is a detail of the device for locking the door over the keys for individual candidates. Fig. 8 is adetail of the device for locking the whole-party-ticket keys when the door over the individual-candidate keys is open. Fig. 9 is a top view of one of the individual keys with the associated parts shown in section. Fig. 10 is'a side view of two of the keys with the associated parts in section. Fig. 11 is a view of the upper end of one of the bars for depressing the keys of all of the candidates on one ticket.

The essential features of my invention can be applied advantageously to any form of voting-machine in which votes are registered by depressible keys; but I have used for illustration a machine similar to that shown in my patent previously referred to, and the construction and operation-of the machine are as follows:

The keys are arranged on a voting-board 1 in inclined columns, so that the paper 2, which is carried upward in front of a platen 3 at the back of the machine,(see Fig. 10,) receives the votes registered by each key in separate vertical columns. In my improved machine I have used a row of keys 4 across the top of the board for indicating in separate columns the votes for the whole ticket of any party.

The keys for the individual candidates follow below the whole-ticket keys of 'the same party. These individual-candidate keys 5, which are shown dotted in Fig. 1, are covered by a hinged door 6. Thus a voter desiring to vote a straight ticket presses that one of the I keys above the door 6 which represents his party, and thus registers a vote for the full ticket of that party. By so doing he has antomatically locked the door 6 and the remain der of the whole-party-ticket keys, so that he is now unable to vote other straight tickets or to get to the keys of the'individual candidates to vote a split ticket.

The means by which the various locking operations are accomplished are as follows: Back of each horizontal row of keys is arranged a series of locking-bars 7, which are held to slide horizontally in a grooved bar 8 by means of guides 9. The middle portion of each end of the locking-bars is'cut away for a short distance and inwardly beveled, leaving the beveled openings 7*. The ends of these locking-bars meet behind each of the keys in the row to which they belong. Just back of the registering end 5 of each key 5 is a wedge-shaped block 5, guided in a slot 8 in the bar 8. The sides of the block 5 are beveled backwardly symmetrically with re spect to the key and adapted when the key is depressed to enter the opening 7 and to force to the right the bars 7 on the right of the key and to the left the bars on the left of the key. The locking-bars 7 are thus carried in front of the ends of the unvoted keys in the same row, preventing their being depressed, and the end lockii'ig-bars 7 are made to extend beyond the ends of the guides. The same arrangement of locking-bars 7 is used behind the whole-party keys as is used behind the keys ol the individual candidates. In addition to these, at one end are two narrow bars 10 and 11, guided in the same guide-bar S. The bar 10 carries a projecting hook 10, adapted to engage the projecting staple 6 on the door 6. \Vhen any of the whole-party-tickct keys 4 are depressed, the bars 10 and 11 are both carried to the right, as is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, and the projecting hook 10 is thus brought to engage the staple 6, as is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7. This locks the door 6, which cannot now be opened until the door of the booth has been opened and closed again by the voter in leaving the booth. \Vhcn the voter enters the booth, the locking-bars 7 are closed together, and the bars 10 and 11 are in the position shown by full lines in Fig. 6. He is then free to vote either by means of one of the whole-partyticket keys or to open the door 6. The door is held by a spring-actuated latch 12, which can only be unlatched by turning the knob 12. This knob has an upwardly-extel'uling arm 12 on the inside of the door, which turns with the knob and which is adapted to strike an outwardly-projeeting arm 11, secured to the bar 11. carrying it to the right, as is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8, and carrying with it all of the locking-bars 7 behind the whole-party-ticket keys, as is shown in Fig. 2, thus locking these keys against being depressed. The bars 7 remain stationary with their solid portion in the path of the keys 4 and their meeting edges out of the path of the keys until restored to their original position by the opening of the door of the booth, as will be described. To close the locking-bars 5 centrally behind the keys and to release the door it locked, a vertical bar 13 is provided at each end of the locking-bars 7. These bars 13 are normally held by springs 13 to the position shown by full lines throughout the drawings. They are connected by the rods or cords 14: (see Fig. 2) to a vertical bar 15, which is pulled outwardly by the door of the booth in opening by a connecting means (not shown in the drawings) to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, carrying all of the locking-bars 7 with them till the end locking-bars 7 are flush with the ends of the guide-bars 8. So long as the door of the booth is open the bars 13 are held against the ends of the locking-bars 7 and no vote can be registered.

It is evident that I am not restricted to the exact means here shown for operating the releasing-bars 13, for other simple means can be used. It is also true that these releasingbars might be operated from a hinged platform within the booth upon which the voter must stand or by other means than the door of the booth without departing from the essential features of my invention. It is also evident that a sliding door or curtain can be used in place of the hinged door 6, it being essential only that the covering device has a projecting staple or equivalent device to engage the hook 10.

While I have shown the machine as l prefer to makeit, with the keys of candidates for the same oflice arranged in horizontal rows, they could be arranged in vertical rows nearly as well by making the frictional resistance to movement of the bars 7 in the guide-bars 8 suflieient to keep the bars 7 from falling.

The appearance of the locking arrangement after the voter has registered the votes for individual candidates on other tickets than his own is shown in Fig. 2. After splitting his ticket he may vote the remainder of his own party-ticket by depressing that one of the bars 16 which covers the keys of the individual candidates. A spring 17 is interposed between .the head 5 of each key 5 and the bar 16. This spring is stronger than the spring 18, which restores the key 5 to place after it is depressed, but will yield in the case of any key which is locked by previous voting.

The machine which 1 have thus produced aids greatly in the counting of votes, shortens the time required to register votes, and prevents the possibility of one voter registering more than one vote for any candidate or for two candidates for the same office. The means used to accomplish these results are, moreover, extremely simple and require so few parts that the likelihood of the machine getting out of order is reduced to the minimum.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a voting-machine the combination of a row of whole-ticket keys; separate rows of individual-candidate keys; a removable cover over the individual-candidate keys; means operated by any whole-ticket key to prevent removing said cover; means operated by removing said cover to prevent depressing any whole-ticket key, means operated by depressing any key to prevent depressing another key in the same row; and means automatically operated by the voter in leaving the booth to release said cover and to make it possible to depress any of the keys.

2. In a voting-machine the combination of a row of depressible Whole-ticket keys; sepa-' rate rows of depressible individual-candidate ITO keys; a removable cover over said individualcandidate keys; means to prevent depressing tWo keys in the same row, comprising a beveled portion on each key, locking-bars with beveled ends meeting opposite the beveled portion of each key, said bars being guided to slide longitudinally transverse the keys; means for locking said cover comprising a staple on the cover, a hook adapted to engage said staple, and means operated by depressing any Whole-ticket key to move said hook into engagement with said staple; means operated by removing said cover to prevent depressing any Whole-ticket key, comprising a latch on the cover, bars transverse the Whole-ticket keys and means operated by releasing said latch to carry said bars across the path of said keys; and means to release said door and to make it possible to depress any key comprising bars extending transverse the free ends of the locking-bars; and means automatically operated by the voter in leaving the booth to pull the transverse against the free ends of the locking-bars.

3. In a voting-machine the combination of a row of depressible Whole-ticket keys; separate roWs of depressible individual-candidate keys; a removable cover over the individualcandidate keys; and means operated by removing said cover to prevent depressing any Whole-ticket key.

4. In a voting-machine, thecombination of a row of depressible Whole-ticket keys; separate rows of individual-candidate keys; a removable cover over the keys of the individual candidates and means operated by depressing any of the Whole-ticket keys to prevent removing said cover.

5. In a voting-machine the combination of a row of Whole-ticket keys; separate roWs of individual-candidate keys; aremovable cover over the keys of the individual candidates; means operated by removing said cover to prevent depressing any Whole-ticket key,comprising a latch on the cover, bars adapted to be moved transverse the Whole-ticket keys to prevent the depressing of any of them; and means operated by releasing said latch to move said bars.

6. In a voting-machine, the combination of depressible Whole-ticket keys; rows of individual-candidate keys; a removable cover' over the individual-candidate keys; means operated by depressing any Whole-ticket key to prevent'removing said cover, comprising a staple on the cover; a hook adapted to engage said staple, a beveled portion on each Whole-ticket key, and locking-bars with beveled ends meeting opposite the beveled portions on said keys; said bars being adapted to move said hook into engagement With said staple.

7. In a voting-machine a roW of depressible Whole-ticket keys; rows of depressible individual-candidate keys, the Whole-ticket key and the individual-candidate keys of each party being arranged in inclined lines whereby a sheet of paper drawn at right angles to the rows for registering votes Will register the votes from each key in a separate column; a removable cover for the individual-candidate keys and means for locking said cover by demeans concealing the latter and controlled by the means controlling the former voting mechanism.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

V ILLIAM LANGRILL. Witnesses:

P. M. ,HOLDSWORTH, FRANK MARTINDALE. 

